I guess the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. If BA go ahead with this and it's as dire as you say - minimum wage plus £2.30 an hour, there will either be no takers and BASSA will be vindicated. Or, BA will be swamped with people willing and capable of doing the job for the remuneration offered.
One thing is for sure BA will continue to look for cost saving and productivity improvements wherever they can. Saying no to everything is nonsense - BASSA's latest about hot towels is pretty stupid in the current economic climate. All the unions at BA, whether they be BASSA,BALPA or any others need to look to the big picture. Encouraging potentially illegal industrial action over hot towels is fiddling while Rome burns.
The IMF stated that Britain is going to suffer more in this global downturn than most other countries due to it's economic reliance on the financial sector. Look for a moment at BA's reliance on the financial sector - especially across the North Atlantic where they generate most of their profits.
No-one wants to see T+C's cut but the fact remains that if BA can see a way to reduce costs that are significantly higher than those of other airlines in the UK they will do so. Forget benchmarking against foreign competitors most of BAs cabin crew dwell in the UK so the relevant costs are UK costs.
BASSA have to be smarter and more savvy than they have been over the last few years - the good times are over.
Willie Walsh sold the paintings off the walls at Aer Lingus, then at BA took the pilots to the High Court over their last dispute and then went after them for costs. Do you think for a moment he will give a second thought to reducing the costs of any group of staff/ especially those that are being petulant and unreasonable.